Fourier optics of image formation in LEEM

Abstract

A Fourier optics calculation of image formation in low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) is presented. The adaptation of the existing theory for transmission electron microscopy to the treatment of LEEM and other forms of cathode lens electron microscopy is explained. The calculation incorporates imaging errors that are caused by the objective lens (aberrations), contrast aperture (diffraction), imperfect source characteristics, and voltage and current instabilities. It is used to evaluate the appearance of image features that arise from phase objects such as surface steps and amplitude objects that produce what is alternatively called amplitude, reflectivity or diffraction contrast in LEEM. This formalism can be used after appropriate modification to treat image formation in other emission microscopies. Implications for image formation in the latest aberration-corrected instruments are also discussed.